Blues as a Musical Pidgin: Towards a Comprehensive Definition and Theory of Blues

Authors : Nikolaus Grill

Pages : 171-206

View : 30 | Download : 54

Publication Date : 2024-11-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Theoretical works on blues as a style in its own right are scarce. Within the rather compact corpus of theoretical works on blues, only very few authors have attempted the establishment of a comprehensive theory, i.e., a theory that would account for the majority of phenomena exhibited by the vast array of musical styles that have come to be called blues at a certain point in time. A comprehensive definition of blues in the sense of a common theory applicable to the majority of its musical exponents has therefore hitherto not been satisfactorily established. Considering the totality of its sub-styles, blues is a highly diverse style and thus defies definition through a theory based on the analysis of physical musical constituents. In the article, I attempt to formulate a comprehensive definition and theory of blues; the definition and theory is based on the fact that blues shares common traits with Pidgin languages, which can be uncovered by an understanding of how blues uses the harmonic and melodic language of Western tonal music. The article analyzes the decontextualized use of Western tonal elements in blues through Schenkerian and tonal analysis, and compares the findings to three traits of Pidgin languages, namely limited embedding and avoidance of deeper structure, the use of infinitive forms and metonymy, and grammaticalization, thus arriving at a metaphysical theory and definition of blues. The definition and theory is metaphysical in that it describes principles by which the blues is guided and through which actual musical constituents are brought into existence.
Keywords : blues, musical pidgins, blues theory, definition of blues, blues metaphysics